Earlier, i just showed you one of the tablet variant from Samsung under the series Samsung Galaxy Tab 4. That tablet was the 8-inch model of this series, carrying some pretty powerful specs under the hood.
According to my previous review, this 8-inch tablet can be a good gaming tablet – if not the best -, although it’s still better than the predecessor that came with Mali-400 GPU and Samsung’s Exynos 4212 processor.

However, compared to the previous-gen model, there’s not much to write home about on Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 given that this tablet doesn’t get any spec upgrade from Samsung with the exception of its processor and graphics chipset.

As a matter of fact, Samsung sacrifices its rear-facing camera of this tablet to 3.15MP from the 5MP on the predecessor.

In terms of gaming performance, then it’s obvious that Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 excels the predecessor in that department.

However, given that this tablet doesn’t get much of improvements in the hardware department, it’s probably not really necessary for you to upgrade to this tablet if you already own the previous-gen Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0, unless you are a tablet gamer.

Anyway, after showing you guys the 8-inch variant of Samsung Galaxy Tab 4, now i want to move on to another variant of this tablet series.

And that is the 7-inch model of Samsung Galaxy Tab 4. Unlike the 8-inch model, Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 still brings a few improvements in the sector of hardware.

And the great news is, this 7-inch variant finally receives the 720p resolution after being stuck to low-resolution 1024x600 pixels from the first-ever-generation Samsung Galaxy Tab series.

Not to mention, if the predecessor is powered by a dual-core Marvel SoC, this time, Samsung injects a slightly powerful quad-core Marvel chipset (but we’ll talk more about these specs later on).

So what do you think? Are you really interested to get to know with this new edition Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0?

Well, if you are, then here you can check out my personal review of this tablet where i’ll share to you my personal impression about this tablet especially its gaming performance.

Not to mention, i will also explain to you later at the end of this review whether you should upgrade your current-gen Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7 or otherwise, stick to your current device.

Anyway, before you go straight reading the review, i also want to ask you something here. Don’t worry - just a tiny little help here (LOL).

What i want to ask to you is, could you please help me share this review to your friends or family or followers by using the social media icons around this page.

Despite having a massive success around the tablet market, there is one thing that never changes on Samsung Galaxy Tab series.

And that is its specs.

From time to time, we all know that Samsung Galaxy Tab tablets – all the variants and connectivity supports -, always come with the specs that are considered today as mediocre at best.

I mean, this tablet series never had the variant or model with 1080p display, let alone the 2.5K display just like the one found on today’s Samsung flagship devices.

But no one ever complained about the lack of superior specs inside this tablet series.

There are some other sectors on this tablet that get some major upgrades from Samsung – especially compared to the predecessor -, like:

its display that now gets 720p treatment,

its processor that now receives the power of quad-core Marvel PAX1088 processor,

and not to mention,

its graphics sector that now gets upgraded to Vivante GPU from the old PowerVR SGX GPU on predecessor.

But the rest of this tablet is actually not far different than the previous-gen model, except with the software build of course, and its pre-loaded features.

But the questions remain, with these improvements made by Samsung on this tablet, is Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 still relevant around today's 7-inch tablet market?

Does this tablet have what it takes to compete with other 7-inch rivals, especially in terms of performance and specs?

Is it worth it to upgrade your current- gen Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 to this next-gen model?

Design

In the sector of design, i think Samsung did a great job in this department. Compared to the predecessor that looked so chubby – as chubby as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 -, there’s a lot to write home about on the design of this fourth-gen device.

In fact, i even think that the design of this tablet could be the first reason for you to upgrade your current-gen Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 to this next-gen model.

I know – it’s probably not wise to upgrade your tablet just for the sake of much cooler design than the tablet you’re currently owning.

But i think that can be put aside because Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 indeed can be worth upgrading given its much cooler design than predecessor.

First of all, at the glance, it looks so elegant with much sharper looks – compared to the previous-gen model with its chubby looks with fully rounded design.

I believe this tablet takes some design cues from Samsung’s latest-flagship smartphone – like Samsung Galaxy 5S, or probably last year’s Samsung Galaxy S4, which had more mature and sharper looking design.

On this tablet, Samsung also reduces the side bezels (left and right) of this tablet in favor of much slimmer bezels.

I think – despite having some mediocre hardware specs -, Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 is still a great looking elegant tablet – no argue with that.

So if you are already bored with the chubby looks on your current-gen Samsung Galaxy Tab 3, then you might want to switch to this fourth-gen model given its more mature and premium design.

Similar just the design, Samsung also made some pretty huge changes in the hardware department.

If the predecessor came with specs that we already consider as mediocre today – even for last year’s standards -, then this next-gen model has stepped up to a new higher level.

The most noticeable upgrade found on this tablet is on its display. Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 now features a 7-inch display with higher-resolution of 1280x800 pixels, as opposed to the low-resolution 1024x600 on the predecessor.

This can be seen as a huge departure because the previous-gen Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 - along with its predecessor and the predecessor before it – has always been stuck with that mediocre screen.

So it’s great to see Samsung finally bring this 720p resolution for the 7-inch model of Samsung Galaxy Tab 4.

Besides its display, the upgrade also takes place in the hardware department, although the upgrade is not that significant compared to the predecessor.

Now Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 is packing a Marvell chipset coded as PAX1088 which is a quad-core processor with the clock speed of 1.2GHz per core, coupled with Vivante graphics chipset and 1.5GB of RAM.

With this class of hardware specs under the hood, its performance is probably not much difference especially compared to the predecessor – although they have different processors.

So it still performs smoothly for most of the basic tasks, like watching HD movies, reading books/magazines, browsing the web, using live wallpaper or checking emails.

As for playing games - similar just like the predecessor -, i still have doubts that this tablet will excel in that sector.

But we’ll get more on that later.

Screen

It’s great to see the 7-inch model of this tablet series finally get the treatment of 720p display.

In fact, this is actually a huge improvement over the predecessors that all are stuck with the lower-resolution 1024x600 pixels.

So as a result, the screen of Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 LTE now looks much even sharper, the text looks readable, the images look so clear in naked eyes (of course. Duh!), the colors look better and everything about its display is just way better than on the predecessor - Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0.

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In terms of performance, this tablet is probably not very far different with its predecessor.

For you tiny bit of information, the previous-gen Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 came with a dual-core Marvel PAX986 processor clocked at 1.2GHz per core, PowerVR SGX (probably 544 GPU) and 1GB of RAM.

On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 now features a slightly more powerful hardware specs than the predecessor – from a quad-core Marvel PAX1088, 1.5GB of RAM and Vivante GPU (i haven’t known exactly which Vivante GPU that Samsung uses for this tablet, but i’ll soon let you know once i found out more about that).

However, side-by-side, between these 2 tablets – the current-gen and previous-gen models -, i believe there is not much difference in their performance.

And that’s because Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 now sports a 720p display, as opposed to the predecessor that came with much lower-resolution 1024x600 pixel display.

And given that this tablet now is powered by a quad-core Marvel SoC – which is more than adequate to handle 720p resolution, so the performance of this tablet will still be pleasingly smooth and fast, especially for doing basic tasks like watching movies, reading books/magazines, using live wallpaper, editing documents or many other things.

Meanwhile, as for playing games, Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 might not be that great for that matter.

This tablet actually kind of reminds me with HP Slate 6 Voice Tab, a 6-inch cellular-enabled tablet that is powered by the same exact Marvell PAX1088 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM (and probably the same Vivante GPU just like Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0) and even the same 720p display.

So in terms of gaming performance, this Samsung’s tablet probably is not capable to handle the most graphically demanding games like Asphalt 8: Airborne, Modern Combat 4 or GTA San Andreas in full graphics.

So if you’re looking forward to buy Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0, and you also happen to be a tablet gamer, then you might want to switch to the 8-inch variant of this tablet series.

The 8-inch model comes with a more powerful set of hardware – from a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 1.5GB of RAM and not to mention, Adreno 305 GPU, plus it sports 720p display.

So there’s no doubt this tablet will be more than good to play high-performing games aforementioned above.

And if you want to get a much larger tablet, you can also switch to the 10.1-inch variant of Samsung Galaxy Tab 4, which also has the same exact hardware specs as the 8-inch model.

Anyway guys, if you want to know more about the gaming performance of Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 LTE, including what games that will run on this tablet, check out my YouTube video playlist or Pinterest page. :)

Camera

Too bad, Samsung still embeds the same exact rear-facing 3.15MP camera on this tablet. And if you love doing selfies, there is still the 1.3MP camera on the front.

If we are talking about quality, then it’s really obvious that the photos/videos taken with this tablet will not look as great as on Samsung’s flagship tablets – like Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro or Samsung Galaxy Tab S series.

But it doesn’t mean that its quality is gonna suck because that’s not true.

For your information, the previous-gen Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 – according to reviews – actually is capable to take some decent shots with its 3.15MP camera.

So you probably can still expect the same thing on this tablet.

Battery Life

Similar just like the predecessor, Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 is still packing the same 4400mAh power battery inside.

According to GSMarena, this tablet could last more than 10 hours for doing multimedia kind of stuff, while using it to listen to music will last you about 190 hours of usage until its battery runs out of juice.

I don’t know if this tablet also gets the “special” treatment from Samsung especially in power saving management – just like on Samsung Galaxy 5S and Samsung Galaxy Tab S series.

Well, if that’s true, then probably this tablet is gonna last much even longer than the predecessor, or even a full day in moderate usage.

Meanwhile, for doing some heavy intense tasks without resting the screen, then we all know that its battery life could drop drastically to only around 5 to 7 hours at best – of course in one full charge.

My Personal Opinions

So in conclusion, as a 7-inch media-consumption tablet, then this tablet is definitely a great choice for you – especially compared to the predecessor.

It has higher-resolution 720p display,

it has more powerful quad-core Marvel SoC (as opposed to the dual-core Marvel processor on the predecessor),

it has many great and new features,

it has good camera and battery life,

and the most importantly, it has much even cooler design than previous-gen Tab 3.

Unfortunately, in terms of gaming performance, i don’t think this tablet will be so great for that matter. It’s because the hardware specs of this tablet kind of remind with the same exact specs of HP Slate 6 Voicetab – with the same exact Marvel quad-core PAX1088 processor, 1GB of RAM (although Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 has bigger 1.5GB of RAM), probably the same Vivante GPU and even the same 720p display.

And i’ve already seen this HP’s tablet don’t deliver such a smooth performance especially when playing graphics intense games like Asphalt 8: Airborne, GTA San Andreas or Modern Combat 4.

So it’s probably not very different with Samsung’s tablet, although my opinion can be wrong if most of popular game developers have well-optimized their games specifically for Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 – given Samsung’s popularity and potentially huge sales of this tablet series.

So if you’re looking for a 7-inch tablet that you’ll only use as a media-consumption tablet – like for watching HD movies, browsing the web, reading books/magazines, listening to music, editing videos or docs, or checking emails -, then this tablet will be a good choice for you.

But you probably might want to get the 3G model given that the WiFi-only variant of this tablet is probably more expensive than any other 7-inch WiFi tablets that have more powerful gaming performance than this Samsung’s tablets – like HP Slate 7 Extreme, HP Slate 7 Plus, etc.

Meanwhile, if you’re currently owning the last-year’s Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0, it’s still a good decision if you want to upgrade to this next-gen model given that it offers some great stuff that can’t be found on your current tablet – like a higher 720p display, a more powerful quad-core Marvel processor, much improved battery life and camera, and much cooler design.

Disclaimer: Hi guys, bear in mind that this is not some in-depth review. This is Read more...